Scandals and lies transcend the political spectrum, and should cause moral outrage. Yet Trump’s team go further in both rhetoric and action. Farage is divisive, but Trump doesn’t represent anything Britain needs or stands for.

The two results do share a common thread. They are the rejection of being managed by a political class. It’s the voices of ordinary people tired of a system that doesn’t work for them – but the parallels end there.

If anything, Brexit is an assertion of quite how damned British we can be. How bloody minded and stubborn we are in the face of things we find objectionable, regardless of consequences. Brexit is about Britain and our future international relations. If we are considering how European we are, we should consider how comfortable we are with the US.

We may see some benefits, but we are the submissive party. And just like the power dynamic in any unhealthy relationship, we find ourselves in the ‘wrong’, or reluctantly agreeing; pretending that we are in mutual agreement.

When attempting to reclaim independence, attaching ourselves to a Trump-led US is absurd. Another quintessentially British trait is that we don’t leap with false enthusiasm. We aren’t that easily excited.

What relationship do we want with Trump?

The US decided that Trump will be their next President. It isn’t a decision we have any say in, but whether we affiliate ourselves with him is. It isn’t merely Farage that has welcomed Trump, leaders across the world including members of our parliament are ready to embrace him. From our Prime Minister to opposition backbenchers, such as Chuka Umunna, the priority appears to be ‘business as usual’.

Few politicians or pundits can view the climate of 2016 as a will to carry on ‘as we were’. Trump and Brexit are an explicit rejection of the status quo, and that must be understood. More importantly though we must recognise that the attitudes seen in the US are alien to us.

It isn’t that Britain is the epitome of tolerance. Anger and hatred exist, but our horror at events on smaller scales and attempts to prevent future tragedies speak to an empathy that we share.

There is a fringe with the same malice in their hearts as Thomas Mair, but no public figure has incited further violence. Trump on the other hand is happy to allude to it. Now more than ever there is the need for Britain to unite behind our own values, not accept those of a different powerful ‘ally’.

If sovereignty is aspirational, why have we done a U-turn with regard to Trump? Sovereignty is desirable precisely because it means we aren’t forced to. Withdrawing from the EU removes formal ties between Britain and the rest of Europe, but if in doing so we still bow to the will of foreign powers – what is it for?

The US could be a great source for trade and perhaps is what business and the economy feel they need, but Brexit sent a clear message. Markets and multinationals no longer define our politics. If the need to appease economic forces is so pressing, we should really reconsider leaving the EU. Yet that isn’t what I’m advocating, I’m questioning why we did, and trying to hold true to those principles.

The same is true of shadowy forces operating to ensure these investigations either stall or fail. I don’t need you to become a feminist if you weren’t already, just to remember the justified outrage you feel at these events. People in positions of power who used it to their advantage, in cases to sickening ends.

Brexit means Brexit, and that means independence

If you manage to dismiss Trump’s words as ‘locker room’ talk, I won’t waste either of our time trying to convince you otherwise. Perhaps Trump is innocent of all accusations, but one thing is undeniable – he has no problem with expressing those views or attitudes privately. The question isn’t whether you think Trump is a danger to you personally, but rather whether his attitudes are welcome in Britain?

Today, Vaz is still an MP. The CSA inquiry’s collapse looms over parliament like a dark cloud while a man accused of things similarly sinister awaits his swearing in as President of the United States. Yet that is the key; he is not our president. Many Americans and the popular vote would indicate a similar mood across the Atlantic.

Trump doesn’t represent any noble political ideals, nor positive character traits. The result of a broken and corrupt system. One which he is settling into with consummate ease for a man who is ‘different’. An establishment that welcomes him with open arms, despite his promises to “drain the swamp”.

Our politicians, but more importantly our society can unite against Trump. On principles which unite our country, if not always with the same motivations. 52% of British voters want greater independence. The unquestioning relevance being afforded to Trump and Farage in Britain is worrying.

Whether you believe the political class to be corrupt, or the men in question, one thing is beyond doubt: both are now part of it. They are shaping political discourse – despite neither ever having a mandate to do so. Especially not in Britain.

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Writer of Polarising Polemics and Counter-Narratives | @Sciscomedia |
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Follow Dewi on Twitter: @UnrelentingEgo